DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE
FIRST
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE
OF AFRICAN MINISTERS OF AGRICULTURE
LOME, TOGO, 20-21 APRIL 2001
Council:
TAKES NOTE of the Report;
REQUESTS the Secretary General to urgently convene a meeting of the Committee on Rural Economy and Agriculture as provided for in Article 25 (1, a) of the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community and Article 14 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union which would have the following essential duties:
prepare a comprehensive programme, including a definite timetable for the establishment of an African Common Market of basic food commodities; and
prepare a methodology for implementing the recommendations of the First Extraordinary Conference of Ministers of Agriculture held in Lome, Togo from 20 to 21 April 2001; in order to address as a priority the problem of food security in the Continent.
EXPRESSES HIS GRATITUDE to the Government of the Republic of Togo for having hosted the First Extra-ordinary Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Agriculture;
CALLS ON all Member States of the African Centre for Fertilizer Development to exert maximum effort to meet their financial obligations to the Centre, in order to enable it carry out its programmes;
URGES all Member States which have not yet done so to sign the Convention of the African Centre for Fertilizer Development and accede to membership of the Centre;
CM/Dec.30 (LXXIV) Page 2
REQUESTS FAO to provide technical assistance to the OAU General Secretariat, its member States and the RECs in the implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at improving food security in Africa;
RECOMMENDS that a decision be taken at the level of Heads of State and Government to ensure that the Plan of Action for the Eradication of Tse-Tse Flies be forwarded to the mandated national offices dealing with health, agriculture, livestock, rural development and poverty reduction for inclusion among the objectives of their national plans and programmes for implementation;
CALLS UPON all Member States to support and participate actively, at the highest level, in the Conference of the World Food Summit Five Years Later scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 November, 2001 in Rome.